Red
by Spottedleafpaw
Summary: And what if Peeta's feelings for Katniss weren't so profound after all? If the boy with the bread and the girl who was a fox shared something deeper. Add another brutal and bloody interested party who forces himself into the mix, and you've got yourself a mess of emotions. An experimental exploration, from Peeta's POV mostly. Rating for language and future content.
1. Leaves

"Red"

1.

Peeta Mellark's favorite color was orange. Ever since he could remember, seeing the brightness and warmth of the color would penetrate his eyes and travel into his pupils, through his retinas, touching various nerves and sparking emotions such as happiness and positive energy throughout his system, across his body, through his heart and brain and into the fabric of his very soul. He didn't really know why, but the color orange made him smile.

His mother would often chide him for using up all the orange dye for the icings he would mix for the cakes. He simply ignored her and continued icing the cakes with as many swirls of orange sugar as he could. Any shade of orange, really, and he liked it. He'd made pastel orange icing for springtime cakes; a sunny bright orange for the summer cakes; a deep, reddish auburn hue for the autumn cakes, and finally the dark burnt spice color that was used in winter. Quite honestly with himself, however, he preferred the autumn cakes.

There was one incident, one that stood out in his mind as clear as crystal now, but his recalling this particular event puzzled him. This incident occurred while he was icing a cake that previous autumn. It was a very nice cake, one that he hoped someone would buy whole this time instead of asking for simply a slice to take home. It was a pumpkin spice cake, frosted with creamy white icing first but with added details of those auburn swirls he so loved. He was fashioning these into a design that resembled fall leaves curling around the cake. As he was putting the final leaf on, however, his grip on the icing bag suddenly increased and he squirted too much out onto the cake.

Cursing at his mistake, he grabbed behind him for a knife on the other table so that he could gently scrape it off and ice over the mishap, but in the process he managed to nick his finger on the blade's tip. Letting out a yelp, he brought his finger back around to his face, but the blood that had welled up escaped his fingertip and dropped down, almost as if by fate, across the cake. The ruby red splashed across the leaves on the cake startled Peeta more than he felt it should, but before he could look much further into it his mother had come to discover his mess and all hell broke loose. Peeta was reprimanded and kicked in the calf as his mother urged him out of the kitchen, murderously eyeing the spoiled cake and her own son in the same manner.

He should have realized then that he was to see much more of his own blood splattered across leaves in the near future. The blood on the leaves was the first step into the violent plans that the Capitol had for him, and it was perhaps to be the last as well.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x

The train to the Capitol was making good time, according to Effie. Their dinner was subdued, firstly to the absence of Haymitch and secondly due to the waves of negativity and tension emanating off of Katniss as she sat and ate, stiffly and somewhat sullenly. Peeta ignored her for the most part, as he knew that she had a lot on her mind and nothing he could do would fix that. Hell, all the reaped tributes must have a lot on their minds that night. He just continued to silently eat his food, marveling at the supreme quality and richness of it. He filled his stomach as much as he could, but was careful not to overdo it. He knew that in the Games, food like this would not be attainable.

After dinner, they watched the recaps of all the reapings from the various Districts, and his attention was held mildly as he sized up their opponents, but none truly stood out to him in the moment. He felt as if he could pore over them later, on his way to sleep. He was currently too worried about himself and Katniss' survival. What followed this was the incident with Haymitch, and as Katniss offered to call one of the Capitol officials to help him clean their drunken mentor, Peeta declined. He wanted to do this out of kindness, and not pity. Perhaps this small act could get the older man to snap out of it and give them, he and Katniss both, a fighting chance.

He had already made up his mind to sacrifice himself for the beautiful girl he had admired for so long if it came to it, but he'd like to gain some tips in order to protect her as best he could in the arena first. After the obvious issues were taken care of, and Haymitch was devoid of the vomit but still soaking wet, he suddenly turned to Peeta and gazed at him fiercely.

"You like her, don't you?"

The question, in all its abruptness, did not faze Peeta as he continued to peel off the man's sopping jacket. "Yeah, what of it?" he began.

"That was a quick admittance. You must not like her that much if you were this easygoing about it."

"I do like her. A lot. And you like to drink. You probably won't even remember this conversation in the morning so there's no harm in having it."

"Touche', kid. But you liking her isn't going to help you in these Games. And it's not gonna help her either. In fact, it's gonna make her life even more of a hell."

Peeta was taken aback by these words. Haymitch must be talking drunkenly, all this must be from his alcohol-induced haze. Even if he looked stone-cold sober at the moment. How could his feelings for Katniss do anything but help her? She had an ally in him no matter what, and she didn't even know it!

"Explain that to me, then. I don't quite follow"

But Haymitch had fallen asleep.

As he lay in his quarters later, eyes losing much of their puffiness and redness, he wondered what could have been. What would Haymitch have said if he hadn't so conveniently passed out? What would have happened if someone had volunteered for him in the brave was that Katniss had in order to save her little sister? This act of pure love and sacrifice brought the image of the young girl from District 11 who was reaped. He was hit with a pang of sorrow for the little girl who reminded him vaguely of Prim. He supposed Katniss felt this way also, as her jaw twitched when she saw this particular clip.

He replayed the countenances of the other tributes in his mind, but none stood out so much as the pair from District 2, for the fierce gaze of the boy seemed to pierce his very soul. Yet he was also struck by another tribute, but not due to the qualities of strength, weakness, or intimidation this one could instill into him. Yes, this tribute was intimidating, and her intense glare at the cameras sparkled with ferocity, yet a hidden intelligence and wily nature lie there too. Any of the other tributes would be a fool to underestimate this one.

However, it was not these things that truly stuck with Peeta. It was her fiery orange hair, long and vibrant and sleek as it caught the wind. That color, the orange that Peeta so dearly loved, was now pitted against him. What he once thought so beautiful was not to be treated lightly any longer. Yet there was still an allure there, part of Peeta that saw this girl and knew there was something more to her that was aching to be explored.

It was with these thoughts that he finally was rocked to sleep by the movement of the train, images of frosted leaves and autumn air and of a fox faced girl racing through the trees, kicking up bloodstained leaves while she spun, laughing, her hair flickering like orange flames about her head in a strangely misplaced foreshadowing crown of fire.

* * *

><p>Well, here we are. I was depressed, because I was brooding over the fact that my boyfriend and I won't see each other for the next 6 months and how incredibly awful that's gonna be. So I decided to re-read the Hunger Games (great idea, pick a fantastic but kinda depressing book about kids slaughtering each other, why don't you? That makes it all better!) and this just nagged at me. And I mean NAGGED. So I wrote what I could. It's funny, the idea was there when I first read the book but only because I noticed "Hey! I have red hair, and my boyfriend has blonde hair! We could be Foxface and Peeta!" ... Not normal, eh? Oh well. Enough of my ranting. My first attempt at Hunger Games fiction, it might suck, it might not. This is NOT a KatnissPeeta story, although it might start out that way. I'm trying to follow the book as closely as I can without deviating too much, at least until later.

And yes, I am aware I have other projects. Imma work on those tomorrow, I swear... o.O

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins does, the lucky lucky lady.

I know it's a tad weird, but that's how it's gonna be I guess. Reviews would be nice. :)


	2. Flames

"Red"

2.

He and Katniss were to be lighted on fire. As they made their way out of the elevator and into the bottom level of the Remake Center, Peeta spied the other tributes staring as they made their way with a flutter of cape and crown towards their chariot. He spied a flash of red hair in the lineup in front of them, and averted his gaze to Katniss in order to clear his head. She looked stunning, so proud and fearless as they stood in the chariot and awaited their potential roasting. As the flames ignited their headpieces and capes, he breathed a sigh of strained relief as his skin was not burning off... yet. At the last minute, right as they were to enter the circle, he looked towards Cinna who was gesturing something to him and Katniss.

"I think he said for us to hold hands" Peeta says, and he reaches for her hand to hold it in his own. It felt good there, comfortable, but not quite satisfying in a way. Perhaps because it was one sided, the attraction? Peeta ignored this and used Katniss as more of an anchor to the chariot as they were rolled out. He smiled and waved, playing his part for the Capitol beautifully. Next to him, Katniss was acting in a similar manner, gaining favor and cheers for District 12 that brought a genuine smile to Peeta's face. Yet beneath the exterior, a carefully crafted winning grin, Peeta's mind was still working over the details to come.

Haymitch had agreed to help them out, and he had done what was asked of him and not protested as he was remade by his prep team. He was mostly miffed by the fact that he would be growing no body hair on his face for the next three months, however, as the serum they had injected into the hair follicles on his face halted their growth. He only hoped it was worth it in the end, for no self respecting male should have to endure such things.

As they made their final round around the square and entered the Training Center, Peeta was relieved when the fake flames were extinguished. He joked a bit with Katniss, but did not miss the cold flicker in her eyes as she kissed him on his bruise. They entered an elevator with Effie, who pushed the large button with the number 12 on it in order to take us to our quarters. As the doors were sliding shut, however, two more groups of tributes and their companions pushed their way in. To Peeta's dismay, they were Districts 5 and 8. The red headed tribute who had danced about his dreams was standing right in front of him.

He chose to not look at her, instead focusing on Katniss and Effie standing beside him. He made the mistake of looking up several times only to find that red hair framing her smirking face causing his breath to hitch and his legs go weak. He was glad when she and her District reached their level and got off. As she turned to leave, her hair flipped in his direction, sending the crisp scent of oranges, cinnamon, and spice. It hit him like a freight train. His mind was reeling, the crystal from the elevator glinting and shimmering lights across his brain as her scent infiltrated his nose. He turned to look at Katniss, and recoiled when she met his gaze with no warmth but simply frustration.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x

In the training room the next morning, Peeta was ruminating over the events of last night and how to handle things from here on forward, while still maintaining the facade he was creating with Katniss, the one of "friends." Oh how he wished to be so much more. He noticed the red-headed tribute from 5 quite often that day. It seemed as if she was always a station away from him, and each time he would glance at her she would appear to have just turned her eyes away from him. He was probably just a bit shaken from last night's incident with the Avox girl.

When Katniss had pointed out that she thought the girl looked familiar, he nearly started and choked a tad on his wine. Peeta had already noted the similarity between the Avox and the tribute from 5, but it was simply the hair color that did it. Plus, the Avox's hair was not nearly as vibrant as the girl who plagued Peeta's dreams. He figured it was simply a cruel trick of fate that the color and the girl seemed to follow his thoughts just when he thought he had escaped them for a little while.

Yet when Katniss spoke up, his insides clenched for no solid reason. Had she discovered his simple yet potent fascination with the red-headed tribute? Of course these were foolish thoughts, and to throw Katniss off the scent and help her out simultaneously he helped cover for her. Yet he couldn't resist demanding an explanation from her later on, after dinner and up on the roof.

It was these and much more that plagued Peeta as he trained with Katniss, the girl he loved more and more each day he spent with her.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x

He felt guilty for hurting her, but it had to be done. Private coaching for the interviews was something necessary if he wanted to save her, and even Haymitch himself had commended him on his choice. He honestly hadn't expected the look of betrayal that flashed across her pretty features, and thus the guilt. Haymitch made him feel no better about it.

"No matter what you do, there will always be something there to trip you up, to catch you off guard. Even if you manage to play that love card to your advantage, she's going to ruin it. She doesn't love you, and you know it. She won't be able to, and she won't be able to put up a good act either. Maybe for the simple-minded sheep the Capitol has in the masses, but it won't fool the Gamemakers, and it won't fool those who matter" Haymitch had said, quietly, but even Peeta knew who he was talking about when he neglected to name specifically.

He was referring to President Snow, a man who quite frankly put Peeta on edge. Unless Katniss truly felt for him as he felt for her, unless she pulled some sort of raw and real emotion out from deep inside her, President Snow would not buy it. But if that's what it took to get her out, alive and well, Peeta was willing to take that chance.

"And I'm not so sure you really want this enough, kid. You might be persuaded otherwise. She's never shown real interest in you, why risk it all for her if that's the case? You're worth something, and so is she. But if you wanted to give up on her, it's understandable. Now's the time to do it, though. Either you play the 'star-crossed lovers' card at your interview and throughout the Arena, or you don't go there. If you do, just remember this: it won't be so easy to change your mind in the Arena, once the die is cast. You'd lose much more than sponsors that way."

Peeta felt he understood this. If he gave up on Katniss, before the interviews and the Games themselves, he would be able to go through the trials of the Arena with her as a potential ally but as no one special. He would most likely get overlooked by sponsors and not be too much of a threat for the other tributes, the Careers especially. If he could make it through the Games this way, he could only hope that he would survive with Katniss long enough to ensure her path to victory.

If he went ahead and made his feelings known, however, he would become a much more interesting player in these Games. The Capitol's citizens would follow his every move greedily as he plowed through the Arena, and he'd not be at want of sponsorship. Yet there was that one crucial detail that was missing if this plan were to work well enough to get him and Katniss through the Games, and that was that Katniss did not love him.

And what if he was sick of all the unrequited feelings? What if he ached for some sort of a genuine smile from her, but he knew that he would never receive one? And who says they would both survive in the first place? A brief flash of orange-red danced in his vision. _If we both die, I'd want it to be her. I'd want her to win._

* * *

><p>Clearing some things up now:<p>

I'm purposefully avoiding giving Foxface some made up name until her name is actually released by Suzanne Collins for the film since I want this to stay canon, or as close to canon as it can get. I'm just OCD like that.

Peeta is a bright guy. He's actually really damn smart. I feel like he would have noticed Foxface's name, but as aforementioned I'm putting off naming her until I can. :P So for now Peeta is oblivious to her name. Plus, I think that even in the book he was ignorant of her name, as Katniss tells him that she calls her "Foxface"

I'd love reviews telling me if this is a good or bad endeavor. I'm not sure if it's been tried before, but from what I've seen it hasn't. If I make any obvious screwups, please inform me! (Spelling, grammar... all that fun shiz.)

The title is in the works. I'm testing it out as "Red"' right now because I have no other ideas XD


	3. Blades

"Red"

3.

As the words left his lips, his eyes sought her out. He wanted to see her reaction to his confession, and he was disappointed when his eyes met her head facing the floor. She had turned away from him, a blush coloring her cheeks. He bit his lip in frustration, but pulled it off as shyness when Caesar Flickerman along with the rest of the crowd dissolved into an uproar of madness.

He and Haymitch had decided that it was best to go through with this angle in terms of sponsorships and favoritism as a whole during the Games. He found himself doubting this choice as he stood there, and this was not the first time he had to do so. Peeta liked to push back that particular feeling, although he was getting anxious that he was having to do it so often.

As he turned his face away from Katniss, who was still not looking at him, he realized that all the other tributes were staring at him and were glaring at him murderously. Of course they would, he thought. He had just taken away the spotlight from all of them, what with his declaration of a love that would most likely end in tragedy. He scanned their reactions, and turned his eyes away from the District 2 boy, Cato, rather quickly as he was sneering at him quite openly and it unsettled him.

He skimmed the others' faces quickly, but did a double take when he came to her. The redheaded tribute from 5. He had missed her name when Caesar had interviewed her, mainly due to the fact that he was trying to tune it out. He didn't want her voice haunting his dreams while her body and face already did. To effectively miss her interview, he had focused on staring at Katniss in her breathtaking gown, and it had worked.

But now, as he made eye contact with the girl from 5, he realized that he couldn't look away. She was giving him more of a curious glance, but it was a sharp and analytical one. Her amber eyes seemed to stare into his entire being, his own eyes locked into that fatal pull of her intelligent orbs. He didn't know what to do, especially when she gave him that small smile, her lip curling up slightly in a mix between a sly grin and a snarl. His eyes widened, and he tore his face away from her and back to Caesar.

He knew that things were going to be quite difficult for him in the Arena, and he had better watch his back even more than he thought he already should.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x

The morning that Peeta was to enter the Arena, he woke up and dashed to the bathroom to throw up. He was going to die today, if the odds stacked against him were not in his favor. Rinsing his mouth, he turned to see Portia had entered the room looking sympathetic. She came over and patted his back soothingly, informing him that she left his clothes on his bed before departing quietly.

He did want to be alone for a short while , and he was grateful she took note of this and allowed him those few minutes of respite before he'd have to face things.

Once he was dressed, he followed Portia through their floor and out to the roof, where a hovercraft appeared. He grabbed hold of the ladder that descended, and it was as if an electric current froze and glued him to it as it pulled him up. Once he was inside, he remained frozen. A woman approached him.

"This is your tracker. It will allow the Gamemakers to keep an eye on your whereabouts in the Arena. It's easier to insert when you're completely still, it should only take a moment."

With that she injected a small device into his forearm. Once he was unfrozen, he poked at it curiously before sitting down with Portia in a room with breakfast prepared for them as they made their way to wherever the Arena was. He ate as much as he could, knowing that food would be scarce where he was going. He would look up at Portia occasionally. They did not speak, and finally Peeta simply put his face in his hands to think.

It seemed as if no time at all had passed when the hovercraft was landing and the ladder descending into what the Capitol called his Launch Room. Peeta showered and brushed his teeth, an even greater sense of foreboding overtaking him as his clothes arrived. Portia helped to examine them as he put them on. Simple tan pants, a black shirt, a brown belt, and a thin black jacket with a hood. Portia explained that the jacket's material was designed to reflect body heat, so there was a chance of cold nights in the Arena. He pulled on sturdy boots over the socks, walking around in circles to test them out once they were laced up.

"I guess I'm ready then" he said to Portia with a small smile. In response, she simply hugged him tightly. A female voice announces it is time for the launch. Peeta made his way to the circular metal plate that would lift him into the Arena. With one parting glance to Portia, a glass cylinder is lowering itself around him and he is lifted into the Arena.

Peeta's eyes were blinded by the bright sunlight, but only briefly. He looked around him, attempting to discern what type of terrain they were in. Good, there was a forest. Katniss would thrive in there.

"Ladies and gentleman, let the Sventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!" the booming voice of Claudius Templesmith announced.

Peeta braced himself. He knew he had to wait sixty seconds before he could move from his plate. The other tributes were positioned in a circle equidistant from one another on their own metal plates. At the center of this circle lie the Cornucopia. Peeta glanced to his left, noting that Katniss is about five tributes over. The determination in her face showed that she desperately wished to make a dash for the golden horn, most certainly to get a hold of the bow and arrows that lay so temptingly in its mouth.

He glances across from him, and makes eye contact with the tribute boy from 2, Cato. He's glaring at Peeta menacingly, and so he turned away. That's when he saw it. In his peripheral vision, a flash of red hair. To his right, the fox-faced girl from 5 is standing, positioned to run as soon as the gong sounds.

Peeta whipped his gaze back to Katniss, who looked even more determined to make a dash for the bow and arrows that he almost gasped with relief when she looked over at him. He shook his head slightly, and just then the gong rang. As his feet left his own plate, dashing forward to grab a backpack, he noticed that Katniss was stuck on her own plate, looking furious at having missed her chance. He decided not to worry about her until he got a weapon.

He kept running, towards a set of knives a bit closer to the Cornucopia, but just as he was about to reach them they were snatched from right in front of him by the girl from 5. He cursed at her as she sprinted off, a small pack on her own back. She was laughing.

As she disappeared into the trees, Peeta turned to survey the scene. Slain tributes were spread out everywhere, and he knew he would probably be next if he didn't get something to defend himself with. He reached a sturdy sized dagger, about the size of his forearm, and picked it up. Just in time, too, because there was a movement out of the corner of his eye that he barely had time to register before he threw the dagger up to deflect the blade coming his direction.

The tribute girl from 2 was running his way, about to throw another knife at him when he charged at her. She seemed taken aback by this, but only continued in her motions. He reached her before the blade could fly, and he knocked it out of her hand before shoving her to the ground.

"Cato! Help, Cato!" she squealed while attempting to scurry away from his own blade pointed at her neck. Before Peeta had a chance to turn around, he was being flipped onto his back and straddled by the powerful form of Cato. His backpack was mashed into his spine uncomfortably, and his legs and arms were pinned, uselessly, between Cato's knees.

"So, loverboy, any last words?" Cato growled as he pointed his sword at Peeta's throat.

"Yeah" Peeta gasped out. "I can help you find her."

That certainly wiped the smirk off of Cato's face. He paused, surveying the bloodbath's wreckage quickly before turning back to Peeta. Many tributes were dead, having been finished off by the Career's alliance. Yet Katniss Everdeen was not among the dead, and Cato was indeed worried about that training score of hers. Peeta could see it in his eyes.

The other Careers had made their way over to where Cato was confronting Peeta, standing around him menacingly as they waited for their unspoken leader to take action.

"How do I know we can trust you?" Cato asked, a hint of danger in his voice as he spoke the question. Peeta knew that an inadequate answer could cost him his life.

"You don't. But only a foolish tribute would go against you."

For the first time, Peeta saw Cato's smile. And he was dazzled.

* * *

><p>So, there's chapter 3. Much thanks to my first reviewer, BelieveInDreams. :)<p>

I'm working on chapter 4 as this one goes out, which is weird for me. I usually never update anything this quickly. But then again, my chapters are usually longer than these are. I'm thinking that they'll either get progressively longer or I'll just make more chapters total, since I'm OCD about the length when it comes right down to it. Anyway, hope this one was decent. Leave me a review and let me know! :D


	4. Eradiates

"Red"

4.

Peeta was sure that making an alliance with the Career tributes was the last thing that the Capitol residents expected. They were sure to be going nuts right about now, and he could only shake his head in contempt. He knew that as long as he stuck with them and played by their rules, he could stay alive for longer in the Games. He'd have a better chance of helping Katniss this way.

They had set up camp, of course, at the Launch point. It was near the lake and the Cornucopia, where all the food and supplies were. They had divvied up the supplies amongst their group, but kept the majority of them in a pile that was constantly guarded. Peeta was surprised to see that they had made another surprising alliance with the boy tribute from District 3, but he soon found out why. For now, the boy was the guard of the supplies until he could set to work properly on the mechanism that would protect them from raid.

There were eleven cannon shots that day. Eleven deaths at the bloodbath, thirteen still alive. Besides himself, of course. The sun was nearing the horizon, and the boy from District 1 named Marvel set to work on starting a fire. Peeta was tossed a loaf of bread that he began dividing up amongst their group. As the Careers settled down for their first meal, Peeta was struck by the food supplies that they had. All these pre-made boxes of cold roast chicken, beef, and other foods that, if destroyed, he was sure the Careers would not be able to survive too well without. He just kept quiet and ate slowly, taking a sip of water from a canteen that was passed to him by the girl from 1, Glimmer.

He figured Cato had asked her to sit by him on purpose. To gauge his reaction to a pretty girl who was not Katniss making advances on him. He was polite to Glimmer, but not too inviting either. He noticed she gave Cato a look after her fifth attempt to get some reaction out of him. He took a bite out of the bread, wishing desperately that it was some from his own bakery, made by the careful strong hands of his father instead of the mass-produced factories of the Capitol, pumped full of chemicals specifically to last for the games.

He must have spaced out, because suddenly Glimmer was no longer by his side but instead Cato had taken her place. Peeta stiffened.

"Relax, you idiot. Would you really expect me to hurt one of my own allies?"

"Yes."

Cato laughed heartily at that, clapping him on the back and causing him to choke a bit on his bread. Peeta swallowed thickly; he had a strangely mesmerizing laugh, somewhat reminiscent of his eyes and smile. It was as if Cato's entire being was designed to intimidate you, yet draw you in for the kill. The tribute in question still hadn't relinquished his grip on Peeta's shoulder, causing the boy with the bread's heart rate to increase. He was nervous in the presence of this powerful force, a mere teenager, but one that could crush him if he only reached those hands of his around his neck and squeezed.

"Come help me find some more wood for the fire, eh?" he said, his voice much too friendly. Peeta stood automatically and followed him into the trees. They had brought weapons with them, but did not draw them. Only a foolish tribute would attempt to attack Cato.

Once they were far enough away to be enclosed with shadow, yet still have some light of the campfire dancing across their features, Cato turned abruptly and pushed Peeta up against a large tree, pinning him there with one of his muscular arms across his chest, the other not even being used. Peeta struggled to push back against him, but only barely dislodging the Career before he was slammed back against the tree.

"Listen up, Peeta" Cato spoke quietly, yet it was a deadly tone that chilled him to the bone. Peeta was unnerved by the reaction his body flooded him with after hearing the way Cato said his name. "If you think you can pull the wool over my eyes, you're wrong. You might think you love her, but even the slightest touch sets you off" he accentuated this by caressing the underside of Peeta's hard jaw with his other hand, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.

"You're wrong" Peeta said fiercely, still trying to escape the hold Cato had around him. He was far too close to him, he needed to get away. He felt like a mouse trapped in the coils of a snake.

"Am I?" Cato countered, scrutinizing the other blonde more closely with his icy gaze.

"I'll be able to find her, and you can do what you want with her when we do."

"Stop trying to change the subject, Peeta."

There it was again. That involuntary shiver, the one he hoped Cato wouldn't notice.

"I'm just telling you-"

"-what I want to hear, which is a lie. A big fucking lie, and you know it. How can you stand it?" Cato spat, but then his tone shifted. "How can you live with yourself, loving someone who never looked at you that way and never will?"

Peeta choked then, swallowing back a growl of rage towards the older boy from District 2.

"I can see it, there's no point in you hiding it. You're just gonna have to sort out your feelings before we find her, because I'm killing her when we do. And you promised me that we will find her, right?"

"We'll find her, dammit. Now get off me."

Cato smirked, relinquishing just enough to where Peeta could push him off if he wanted. "Unless you liked it like this, loverboy. Probably the most you'll ever get, since your girl... well, you know. She won't ever touch you like that."

Peeta hissed and threw Cato off of him, and stormed back to the camp without looking back at Cato's taunting face.

"Peeta, you forgot the firewood!"

Peeta rolled his eyes and kicked some sand towards the offending Career, earning some chuckles from the rest of them. They weren't stupid. They knew they hadn't gone for firewood at all. Although the answering cold stare he got from Clove made him wonder how much they did know.

xXxXxXxXx

Peeta slept through the night, quite surprisingly. He had curled up in a sleeping bag in the camp with the rest of his alliance. They had set up tents and were sharing them by District, which meant Peeta was alone. Or so he thought, at first. Next to him was the scrawny boy from 3, who had switched out with the girl from 4 last night for the watch and was currently dozing off in an upright position, dagger limp in his hand. Peeta wondered why he wouldn't just lay down and try to get some rest, but he supposed that the kid was much more nervous than he was about their current situation.

It was still dark out, the sun had not risen. Peeta lay there, his eyes open and his mind blazing through thoughts and emotions that he was attempting to sort out. He realized that dwelling on his issues was a bad idea, a very bad idea indeed; yet he couldn't help wondering just why he cared so much about Katniss, why he reacted to Cato's aggressive advances in that way, and why on earth he kept dreaming of the girl with the flaming red hair from District 5. She had danced through his dreams again last night, and he was glad he was alone and no cameras were present inside the tents or things could have gotten ugly when he woke up and realized he'd been talking in his sleep.

He ran a hand through his blonde hair and sat up, stretching and realizing that there was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep at this point. He emerged from the tent and jerked his head at the boy from 3, indicating that he'd take over the watch. He got a nod in return, the dark haired boy from the technology district returning to his tent with a somewhat grateful expression.

Peeta went over to the pile of weaponry and selected a nice sharp machete before sitting down on the box that was designated as the optimal guard spot for their little group. He watched as the misty and dewy morning in the arena unfolded, the darkness only lighting a slight bit as the sun threatened to color the sky in the pinks and oranges of dawn.

He made a sad sound as he thought of what the color now symbolized to him; orange, the color blooming across the sky each morning meaning the start of another day in the arena, and the color seeping across the same skyline in the evenings meaning that he had survived another day. And then of course the circle would begin again, as long as he did survive of course.

It also held great meaning now as the fox-faced girl danced through his mind, her orange hair affecting him so much that he wondered if he was going crazy. Looking across the camp absently, he paused as her lithe figure seemed to be dancing lightly around some of their food supply and shooting him a grin every once in awhile as she picked and chose some of the items with nimble fingers.

Okay, maybe he really was going crazy. When the sun's feeble rays strengthened however, he realized that she was not a hallucination but was very real and indeed stealing from the pile of goods. He shot up abruptly and began running over to her. She continued to pick and choose supplies, faking oblivion to his approach.

She let out a quiet yelp as he grabbed her arm and pinned her against the pile of food. "What do you think you're doing?" he managed to gasp out. "Invading the Career camp?"

"I'm hungry. You have food. I knew I could count on you to let me take some of it" she said a little breathlessly. She had a brazen and confident voice, yet it twisted into something playful and had some sort of quietude to it. Hearing her voice for the first time unsettled and stirred something in him; now his visions of her would be able to speak.

"What makes you think I won't kill you on the spot?" he hissed, trying to seem intimidating while warding off his own newly imagined thoughts about her. She simply let out a quiet laugh and placed one of her hands delicately on his cheek.

"You're not going to kill me. You're fascinated by me; and in a strange way so am I when it comes to you... although I think we're both too worried about survival to bother with exploring that, hm?" she said. Her skin on his caused his flesh to tingle in an odd way, yet something inside him remained perturbed by her lack of interest in pursuing this so called 'interest' in him...

Wait, why wasn't he more preoccupied with the Games? He could die in here! Katniss should be his number one priority... She seemed to understand, for she gave him a knowing look before disentangling herself from his hold on her.

"I'll see you again, Peeta." It was a statement, not a question or a concern for her. She began to bound off, back into the forest with a pack of freshly replenished supplies

He watched as her fiery hair blended in with the colors of the rising sun until the brightness seemed to drown it out and surround everything else until she was gone.

* * *

><p>I know it's been a god-awful long time... Eek.<p>

I am in fact alive and have not dropped off the face of the earth like many people most likely thought. I actually have a somewhat decent explanation for everything... Basically I got into a horrible car wreck and broke my arm, and had to go through a few months of physical therapy (and mental therapy) because it's a miracle that I managed to come out of that thing alive. And then of course came college stuff, since I fell way behind in everything...

And then came the three jobs that I acquired after everything came through. I currently still hold these jobs, too, which says something about me I suppose. It also adds to my busy life!

Relationship drama also decided to enter the picture; long story short, as of now I'm in a long-term committed relationship with a man that I love dearly, but this of course takes up a lot of my energy and I honestly don't mind at all

I will say this, however. I'm hoping to be able to update my stuff more frequently. Hope this is somewhat appreciated, I know that it's been a ridiculous amount of time but now I finally have some sort of organization in my life.

Let me know if you have any comments, questions, rants, the like. I probably deserve some yelling xD


	5. Apples

"Red"

5.

That first day in the arena proved to be a rather anxious one for Peeta, as he felt like any second Cato would notice that some of the supplies were missing and immediately jump to conclusions. He knew it was silly to worry about this sort of thing, since the pile of stuff was so abundant and overflowing that it was unlikely that a few scraps would be noticed as missing.

Perhaps it was simply how Cato looked at him, almost with a leer of satisfaction every time he caught sight of the young baker; it seemed that he was happy to have him on their side, helping hunt down the girl that he supposedly loved. He must be really twisted internally to be feeling so content about this development, and it made Peeta queasy.

The Careers approached the games with a sickening calm, as if nothing out there was anything worth worrying about, and all they'd have to do in the end was kill everyone else before turning on each other. The fact that this bothered them so little, at least on the exterior, troubled Peeta to no end and he felt cautious and wary at all times because of this.

"Today we begin the hunt!" Cato announced to all of them after they had finished eating. Peeta tensed immediately at these words, only feeling worse once Cato clapped a strong hand on his shoulder. "With loverboy here to help us find the 'girl on fire'" he spoke those words in a mocking tone, chuckling; "she won't have a chance. Mostly because we'll use him as bait, make her pretend that he's her friend and then ambush him all together. When she tries to save him... Well, that's when the fun begins" Cato continued, keeping his voice at a manageable level in order to keep their plan somewhat secret from any potential prying ears.

"And of course, we'll kill anyone else we find while looking for her" he finished, earning nods and some excited grins from the others.

"The big one from 11 went over into the tall grass past the lake. What should we do about him?" Clove brought up, her knives twisting dangerously in her small hands. Marvel grinned sadistically at her while hoisting his spear.

"There's strength in numbers, right? We could take care of him all together while there's a lot of us before hunting down Katniss" the boy from 1 suggested. Cato seemed to take that into consideration.

"We could do that, and get him out of our way and off of our minds. But what if something happens to Peeta while we're fighting him? Then we lose any chance at our plan to get rid of the bitch from 12" he reasoned, squeezing tighter on Peeta's shoulder as he did so. Peeta flinched a bit, but said nothing.

"We could leave him and the runt here to work on the traps while the rest of us go hunt down the big guy" Glimmer pointed out. Cato shot her a glare.

"Leave them unsupervised? They might betray us" he growled, almost in warning as his grip tightened on Peeta's shoulder to the point of pain, and Peeta let out a hiss. Cato turned Peeta around to face him, gripping his chin in order to force him to look him in the eyes. "You wouldn't betray us now, would you lover boy?" he said menacingly.

"No. She means nothing to me, it was just to get sponsors!" Peeta gasped, trying and failing to pull out of Cato's grip. "You and I both know that everyone always overlooks the outer districts. I made myself look more interesting!"

Cato chuckled, his hold on Peeta's face softening a bit. "Yes, yes you did. And that's all I needed to hear, lover boy" he said, winking at him while trailing his hands down from his chin to his neck. "I'll snap your neck if you double cross us, got it?" he hissed. Peeta struggled to keep the heat from flaring up to his face, and nodded. His nerves were frayed and Cato's hands on him were causing him to freak out and mess with his emotions at the same time.

Cato released him then, turning back to the other Careers who had watched the display in rapt attention. Peeta was thankful that they bought his story, as they only gave him disdainful looks that proved that they too normally overlooked the outer districts and thought little of them.

"You and 3 stay here and he'll tell you what to do. He could probably use the help, you've got the brawn for it" Cato said with a smirk, letting his gaze roam up and down Peeta quickly before turning with the other Careers to go hunt down Thresh, the boy from 11.

Peeta bristled a bit at Cato's behavior, not knowing what to make of it, but he met the eyes of the shrimpy tribute from District 3 who looked much more disturbed than he.

"Let's get to work then. What do I need to do?" Peeta offered gently, knowing that this young boy would definitely not double cross the Careers out of utter fear of what might happen to him. In some ways, Peeta didn't blame him.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x

It turned out that Peeta did end up doing a lot of manual labor, as Cato had predicted; he and the tribute from 3 had dug up all the mines around the launch pedestals after deactivating them, and the plan was to rebury them around a the supplies in order for their stuff to remain protected in case they needed to all leave the camp together.

This would eventually be necessary, Peeta thought; if Cato was going to pull off his plan for getting rid of Katniss like he expected, he'd want Peeta and all the other Careers to be able to go away from the camp for extended periods of hunting. The boy from 3 would need to be kept around in order to work the mechanism guarding their supplies; the Careers normally would have used and then killed an ally such as him, but as he was the only one with the knowledge of how to work the mines, his life was pretty much guaranteed for now.

Peeta spent the majority of that morning shoveling and digging holes while the younger tribute followed behind him and replanted the mines around the pile of goods that the two of them had consolidated before starting with the mines. It was good to keep his mind occupied this way, he figured, and instead of dwelling on all the possibilities of death and the horrors of the arena he put his hands to work.

They took a break when the sun was higher in the sky, not directly overhead but close. The tribute from 3 had retreated into the tent that he and Peeta shared, and he assumed that the boy was either napping or crying.

Peeta took a bite out of an apple absently, staring out at the lake. The Careers must have been well on their way to tracking down Thresh and killing him; he expected them to come back that evening successful. Knowing them, they wouldn't fail in such a large group, not to mention how cautious they were when it came to killing.

As Peeta continued to eat his apple, he noticed what seemed to be a flutter of movement from the corner of his eye near their unfinished pile of supplies. Bolting up, he rushed over to the area without rousing the other boy; he had a feeling he knew who it was.

When he reached the pile of goods, he saw her standing with her arms crossed across her chest, staring at the places where the freshly buried mines lay scattered. None were too close to the pile itself, as they didn't want the supplies themselves to get blown up on accident. The mines were scattered as far as 9 feet away from the pile, at least from what they had managed to get done so far.

"Clever, boys. I'm impressed" she said, whirling around to face him. "Is this all because of me?" she seemed to joke. Peeta glared at her.

"Don't get so full of yourself."

She laughed, darting forward to snatch the apple from his hand before taking a large bite out of it. As she chewed she surveyed him, those amber eyes glinting with a wiliness that unsettled Peeta in the same way that Cato's cold gaze did.

"Get out of here. They could come back" Peeta muttered. She arched an eyebrow in surprise.

"Why do you care what happens to me? I told you last night, survival trumps my interest in you" she said with a hint of a smirk forming at her lips however.

"I don't want to be the one to kill you, and if they come back I'll have to" he said sternly, knowing that if Cato and the Careers came marching back right now he'd have to put up a good show of killing the fox-faced girl who was stealing their supplies, or Cato would assume the worst and Peeta himself would be dead before he could get a chance to help Katniss.

She studied him again, finally deciding that he wouldn't hurt her then as she took another bite of the apple before placing it back in his hand. As their skin touched for the second time, he felt a slight spark of electricity jolt through him. She was from the Power district, which confused him a little; did she have energy running through her at all times or something?

"I'll take what I need and be on my way then; I'm sure they'll have Thresh gone before lunchtime" she said, turning and to Peeta's horror leaping right over towards the mined pile of goods... And landing safely on her feet. She then proceeded to follow a path that she must have clearly observed Peeta and the boy from 3 make while implanting the mines into the ground.

She reached the pile of supplies unscathed, grabbing a bit of cheese and crackers, some dried meat, and a pinch of bread which she stuffed into her small bag. She then turned, catching Peeta's eye before reaching into a bag and pulling out a bright red apple. She placed her lips to it, mockingly, before placing it with the rest. She then danced nimbly out of the mined ground and back over to Peeta, who could only watch in awe as his internal fascination with her grew.

The sound of the cannon drew him out of his reverie, however, and she laughed as she sprinted past him, leaving behind her the scent of what Peeta could only describe as autumn leaves and spice. He watched her run off, her red hair trailing fire behind her as another cannon shot rang out. Two deaths, but who?

He made his way back to the camp, finding the young tribute boy from 3 emerging from his tent with wide and fearful eyes. Peeta looked at the apple in his hand, the apple she had placed back that sent a spark coursing through him. Her lips and tongue had touched this apple.

He took another bite, feeling strangely connected to her as he did so; indirectly through the red skin of the apple he ate, he supposed his lips had touched hers. And he wasn't sure why this sent such powerful feelings through him.

"Come on, let's get back to work before they come back to camp" Peeta suggested. The boy nodded, rushing over to go deactivate some more of the mines around the cornucopia. Peeta realized that the Capitol audience might be thinking all sorts of things right now, and realizing that sponsorship depended on his 'star-crossed lovers' routine with Katniss, he put on an act of sighing and whispering her name softly.

As he and the boy continued to work, they made considerable progress and the trap around their supplies was almost complete by the time the Careers came into sight. They were approaching from the lake, and Peeta didn't care to make sure who was alive and who wasn't. He wanted to be surprised, he thought bitterly.

Maybe Cato and Thresh killed each other off and Peeta could feel better about the two biggest and most strength challenging competitors in the Games being gone... Yet he realized with horror that Cato was the only thing really keeping the other Careers from killing him. Peeta was part of Cato's plan after all; Clove would just as easily kill him the second she got a chance to.

He felt a pair of strong arms encircle him then, and he tensed in both fear and dread at what this could mean.

"It would please you to know, lover boy, that I made it back alright" Cato hissed gleefully in his ear. Peeta had been bent over shoveling dirt to cover one of the mines; Cato had come up from behind him and it freaked him out due to the compromising position they were in. He straightened up at once, pulling himself free from Cato but only because he allowed it. He had barely a scratch on him, and he seemed rather happy about it.

"Thresh wasn't too much trouble?" Peeta asked while trying to calm his internal bodily emotions that went rampaging every time someone touched him, it seemed.

"On the contrary, he took the girl from 4 with him. Put up a hell of a fight, but I slit his throat in the end. Clove managed to get a few knives in him, too, didn't you?" Cato explained, turning to his approaching district partner who seemed to literally be glaring daggers at Peeta.

"Yes, right in his gut" the small but deadly tribute said smoothly. "How's this coming then? Are you done yet?"

"Almost" Peeta replied, wondering if she had seen the odd position Cato put him in from earlier before walking over. She nodded, pulling Cato back to the camp in order to get him to practice sparring with her.

Peeta let out a sigh; it seemed that he was going to be stuck in even more complicated relationships with the tributes than he had thought.

* * *

><p>Some hints at a one-sided Clato here, sorry about that but I really just don't like the pairing. Clove is too young in my eyes to be with Cato; they're too similar in personality for any sort of romanticism to work. Good relationships stem from opposites, which is what I like to write :)<p>

As you can also see, this is where we begin to sort of deviate from the plot of the story (drastically at least, since it already had the potential of being quite different... Although to be fair we never knew what went on those first days Peeta was in the Career camp, and we never know what was in Peeta's head at all to begin with!)

Thresh is gone :( oh well. I'm hoping that his death drives some sort of big change in the arena however...

Until next time!


	6. Baths

"Red"

6.

The day progressed as one would have expected it to, with the Careers taking time to practice fighting techniques with one another while Peeta was subject to watching; more often than not, he caught Cato purposefully sending him a look or two which constituted as a mixture between a leer and a sort of smile of approval. Peeta supposed that he was content with the progress of the games thus far...

'And content with the effect he has on you' he thought to himself cynically, as he replayed the event from earlier in his head and allowed a small blush to creep up onto his cheeks.

Just then, Cato finished pinning Marvel to the ground and with a sort of playful shove he pushed him out of the way, making his way over to Peeta with a sort of swagger in his walk that the boy from 12 wanted to snort at. Yet he knew that something was a bit off about this particular approach, and he then felt a rough grip pull him to his feet.

"Come on, baker boy, you're gonna come spot me down by the lake while I wash up" he said, and Peeta had to refrain from visibly biting his lip in frustration at this request, no, order.

As he picked up his current weapon, a machete, he caught Clove glaring daggers at him while she twirled her actual daggers between her nimble fingers. He turned his gaze back to Cato, who was motioning for him to hurry up as they went towards the lake.

Peeta honestly wasn't sure why Cato even needed to be spotted, as no tribute in their right mind would go up against this brute of a guy and expect to survive, even if they managed to get one good hit in. Then of course Cato pulled his sweaty shirt off his body, revealing his nude torso with a smirk towards Peeta and the baker boy remembered just why he was dragged along for this ride... Torture, pure torture.

He found a rock at the lake's edge and sat on it, planting himself firmly on it and making a point to avoid looking at Cato while pretending to scout for potential threats.

"Hey, Peeta, come help me wash my back will you?" Cato called out, and Peeta's head whipped involuntarily to see that Cato had silently slid into the water already... And his pants seemed to be in a heap at the water's edge. "Do it or I'll come get you myself" Cato's voice turned threatening, and Peeta let out a sigh before pulling his own shirt over his head and leaving it on the rock.

He strapped the machete in its holster around his leg as he began to wade into the crystalline artificial lake. He was biting his lip for real now as he walked over to Cato, whose arms were open and beckoning with a sadistic gleeful grin on his face. Peeta paused at about an arm's length away from the boy from 2; the Capitol was probably having a field day right about now.

Cato's long arm whipped out and pulled Peeta into him, the guise about washing his back gone completely as his hands started to roam all over. The chill of the water was enough to make him shiver, but Cato's touch was much more powerful and Peeta shut his eyes in order to block out the view of the person in front of him.

"Oh, Peeta, you've been wondering when I'd do something like this haven't you? These are my games... I can do what I want whenever I want" Cato had leaned in to whisper this into Peeta's ear before nipping his neck slightly, then running his tongue over the spot. Peeta gasped a little as Cato pulled their bodies flush together, the water lapping up at them and wetting their skin.

Cato smirked and pulled them deeper into the water, enough to where he could lift Peeta up into his arms and wrap his legs around his lower body. Peeta kept a strangled cry of torment inside as he wanted to cry out so badly but didn't want to draw attention to them, both to their location itself and to what Cato was doing to his nerves.

One of Cato's hands had snaked up his back and gripped the blonde hair at the nape of his neck; he threaded his fingers through it and pushed Peeta's head towards his own until their lips were crashing together and Peeta saw stars.

Cato was everything and everywhere, his hands and tongue and body consuming the younger blonde and Peeta couldn't hold back a cry of both pleasure and despair at what was happening to him; Cato had somehow unlaced Peeta's pants underwater as he sucked on his neckline and was touching him and oh GOD Peeta couldn't control the panting noises coming from deep in his throat.

He clutched onto Cato desperately, realizing that perhaps this was as close to any form of passion, pleasure, and love that he could get as he'd most likely die within the week. He rested his head on Cato's shoulder as he was rocked and touched and kissed, and when his eyes opened in half-lidded stupor he saw it.

A flash of red among the reeds.

He opened his eyes fully to see her watching them, and her smirk was almost too much to bear. She grinned at him before retreating back into the forest, and he gasped as Cato did something that caused his vision to blur around the edges and in the throes of pleasure he turned back to meld their lips once more.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x

Back at camp, Peeta realized that all the other Careers seemed to know exactly what had happened down at the lake and they were all being pointedly quiet about it. Glimmer would wink at him every once in a while, and Clove would stab some sort of small creature if it came into close enough reach, but other than that the affair remained hushed. Peeta was glad, because now that he was back around others he realized how ashamed he was over the whole thing and he could barely bring himself to look at Cato, although the throbbing hickey on his neck wouldn't let him forget so soon.

He then realized with fear that most likely he'd be switching tents this night, and Clove was definitely going to be sour about this. Cato seemed to know this also, but as the leader and definite strongest member of their alliance he didn't care one bit.

He pondered the fact that the foxfaced girl from 5 had seen all of it, also, and as he chewed on his meat and bread that evening at dinner he wondered what she'd choose to do with that information if anything at all.

Cato was sitting by him, of course, and in the darker light he would wrap and arm around Peeta every once in awhile to give him a squeeze and Peeta would blush and glare at him. He knew quite well that this was only hormonal and part of Cato's display of complete dominance over everything in the arena... Everything except Katniss, he thought with a small spark of hope.

"Tonight we go on a little midnight hunt, what say you?" Cato proposed to the rest of their party; resounding agreement all around, and it was decided that 3 would remain behind as usual to guard the camp, and Peeta was being dragged along as Cato seemed to want to push him to making a kill together for some strange reason.

"Plus if Katniss spots us wandering around together who knows what could happen?" Cato suggested, and Peeta silently wished she'd shoot an arrow into all of their skulls, including his own, in order to end his misery. And then he remembered that Glimmer had the bow most likely meant for Katniss, and that the Careers knew nothing of her skills in archery, and his spirits turned down once more.

They tooled up and then ventured into the forest, not quite caring about all the noise they made and not making a point to stay stealthy; their prey would be found, whether they stumbled across them or found them on their own time.

Cato made an effort to keep Peeta by his side, and the boy from 12 was beginning to worry that even after Cato deemed him useless if they managed to get to Katniss, he'd still be kept around. Knowing Cato, he'd keep him until he was the very last tribute standing in his way to victory, and then he'd choke him to death while doing other unspeakable things to him...

His face heated up and his stomach turned at the thought.

x.X.x.X.x

The next day passed in a blur for Peeta; he remembered awakening startled as he realized that as he had predicted he was moved to Cato's tent, and the great brute had spent the night whispering strangely soft words into his ears as he caressed him. Peeta had awoken enveloped in his arms, another hickey formed on his collarbone and bruising purple from a rather heated moment that night when Cato had flipped him onto his back and pushed him into the ground with heated kisses and his larger body threatening to smother him; all the while, however, Peeta enjoyed it in a twisted cosmic joke.

As he stirred, he was surprised that Cato had not awoken immediately when he did. Perhaps the boy from 2 was slowly acclimating to Peeta and was less alert for whatever reason... Was Peeta luring him into a false sense of security by allowing him to be his plaything? Perhaps, and this could prove to be an advantage later on... Yet he shouldn't kid himself into thinking that he wasn't feeling some sort of weird pleasure out of being, well, wanted for once.

They remained at camp that day for the most part, and for the entirety of that day no one was killed as no cannons sounded.

That night however, the sharp eyes of Clove detected that someone was making a fire in the forest, and thus they set out to make another kill. Cato dragged him along with glee, looking forward to spilling more blood.

They reached the silly girl from District 8 who had started the fire to warm herself, and within minutes Cato had her pinned to a tree with a sword in her belly. He then pulled it out with a laugh that resounded with the rest of the Careers.

"We'll let her bleed out, hm? Let's see if we can make it back to camp before the cannon!" Glimmer cackled, making a joke out of the situation. It made Peeta sick.

As they drifted away from the sputtering girl, Peeta locked eyes with Cato who smiled at him in a strangely soft way before raising his bloodied hands to the baker boy's face.

"Finish her off. It'll look hot and I'll reward you later" he hissed, trailing his fingers across Peeta's face. He shuddered as he felt a sticky trail of blood follow, and tasted the girl's irony essence when Cato passed his index over Peeta's lips. With a gulp, Peeta unsheathed his machete and walked over to the girl, grabbing her by the hair to raise her up and expose her neck. With a deft movement he slit her throat, and the cannon sounded as she gurgled and frothed up more blood.

It was just like cutting a cake, Peeta told himself, and he suppressed his disgust as Cato let out a soft moan as he was sickly turned on by what had just happened.

"You're messed up, you know that?" Peeta hissed. He couldn't help himself. He found himself familiarly pressed up against a tree as Cato gripped his neck for quicker access, rather roughly.

"Like you aren't?" Cato said with a growl, and left Peeta to ponder that as he bit his lip harshly before shoving him aside. "Let's head back to camp and sleep."

Peeta's breathing was harsh as he struggled to keep up, and part of him felt like the whole time they were being watched by someone. Be it Katniss or the foxfaced girl with eyes everywhere, he hoped that they saw it and deduced what a sad state he was in and would rescue him from his feelings and confused emotional choices.

If only he had realized that it was not just one pair of eyes on the spectacle, but two... And exactly the two sets of eyes he was thinking of.

* * *

><p>WELP we got some fun sexy times between our two favorite sexy blonde boys, hooray! And Foxface was totally enjoying her little show, no question about it. Heh.<p>

Once again I apologize if this type of story isn't your cup of tea, but I'd appreciate some feedback if you in face DO like it.

I figure that in the future of humanity people would stop being so weird about homosexuality, and it could be considered a normal thing enough to where Peeta really isn't as fazed by the fact that Cato's a BOY, but simply by the fact that he's CATO. And that's how I've been writing this, if you couldn't tell. Poor Peeta has 3 different tributes that he basically is sexually curious about xD So you can imagine how sucky it must be for him to be turned on by one, curious of another, and supposedly in love with a third.

Leave some comments, please, because next time we'll be getting some more arena action, and Cato meets Foxface soon... ;)


End file.
